


We Could Be Heroes

by some_where



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, BB-8 is Poe's daughter, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Heroes (TV) AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 09:50:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11987343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/some_where/pseuds/some_where
Summary: The man is laying on the carpet in a sea of blood and broken glass, his mouth open in a silent scream. The woman is slumped against the bed, dead eyes staring into the void and red oozing out of her head. The blood is fresh, the bodies warm – they died only minutes ago.Finn leans against the door frame, shaking. Once again, he’s too late. Once again, he’s failed. And once again, Kylo Ren has killed, each victim making him stronger than before. Finn clenches his fists as hard as he can, knuckles whitening and nails digging painfully into his palms.He cries.----------------------------------A few years ago, Finn was an insignificant orphan trying to save up for college. Now, with the aid of his ragtag group of friends, he tries to locate and help people like him - people with "abilities". But between elusive serial killers and evil organizations targeting their kind, life has become a hide-and-seek game with Death.However, his meeting with a young woman might uncover some secrets and change everything.





	1. The Monster Lurking in the Dark

 

_Thump, thump, thump_

 

All he can hear is the deafening sound of his blood pulsing through his head, and his own raspy breath.

 

_Thump, thump, thump_

 

The sound of his footsteps echoing through the streets, drumming faster and faster despite the exhaustion creeping in his legs.

 

_Thump, thump, thump_

 

He stops short in front of a building. The neon sign on top of it casts a crude light on his face. He has to get to the 16th floor, but he doesn’t have time to take the stairs or even the elevator. Every second counts.

 

_Thump, thump, thump_

 

He looks left and right, making sure that no one is there to witness what he’s about to do. The street is cold and empty, drowned in the dark of the night.

 

_Thump, thump, thump_

 

Finn takes a step back, bends his knees, and propels himself in the air, flying like a rocket to the window on the 16th floor. He lands on the balcony.

 

_Thump, thump_

 

He pushes up the half-open window, but he already knows that something is wrong – the lights are turned on, but there is not a single noise in the apartment. He makes his way through the living room, every last one of his nerves on edge. Eventually, he spots blood coming out from under a door, a thick red line steadily making its way to his shoes, and his heart sinks. _Maybe it’s not too late_ , he thinks with foolish hope, _maybe they’re still alive_. He opens the door.

 

_Thump_

 

It is too late. They are dead.

 

The man is laying on the carpet in a sea of blood and broken glass, his mouth open in a silent scream. The woman is slumped against the bed, dead eyes staring into the void and red oozing out of her head. The blood is fresh, the bodies warm – they died only minutes ago.

Finn leans against the door frame, shaking. Once again, he’s too late. Once again, he’s failed. And once again, Kylo Ren has killed, each victim making him stronger than before. Finn clenches his fists as hard as he can, knuckles whitening and nails digging painfully into his palms.

He cries.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Finn takes his time going home. He’s upset, and doesn’t feel like facing the others just yet. His phone has been buzzing non-stop for the last 45 minutes, ignored calls and worried texts piling on top of each other. He sends a brief “I’m fine, on my way home” text before turning it off. _Poe is going to be_ so _pissed_ , he thinks with a sigh.

Still, he’s too shaken to come back to his friends. They’re his only family, and he’s terrified that they are next on the killing list. He’s feeling lost, and so _so_ stupid because he somehow thought that he could help people, but now it seems that he’s doing more harm than good. He tries to think about the few people he managed to get to safety before Kylo Ren or the Company find them, but the pale faces of the corpses he just left haunt his every thought. For every person saved, he had failed so many more.

Finn inhales the chilly air, trying not to fall into his usual self-loathing spiral. Now is not the time to break down. He needs to get his shit together.

He wanders in the foggy streets for a few more minutes, then puts his hoodie back on and heads home.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When he steps into the tiny apartment he shares with Poe and BB-8, everyone is there waiting for him. He takes his time hanging his jacket on the coat rack, trying to delay the confrontation. When he finally turns around, he doesn’t need to use his telepathic ability to know they are upset with him.

Paige is glaring at him, spread on the ratty couch with her arms crossed, and Rose offers him a weak smile, her fingers drumming anxiously on the chair she’s sitting on. Poe is sitting on the floor, playing cards with BB-8 and pointedly ignoring him. Finn knows he’s in big trouble, because Poe only uses the silent treatment when he’s very upset.

“Where were you? You disappeared for _hours_!” Paige hisses.

“You didn’t tell anyone that you were heading out, let alone where you were going. You didn’t answer any of our calls, and only sent a vague text that could have been written by anyone. We thought that the Company had finally caught you, Finn,” Rose adds, her voice quieting at the end.

“I’m really sorry, guys,” he starts, feeling guilty. He knows they were worried sick about him, and having been on the receiving end of the feeling, he knows how much it sucks. “The thing is…” he sighs, not knowing where to begin. He doesn’t need to, though, because Rose has a tendency to say out loud everything she reads into people’s minds.

“He found two other people with abilities and went to their place,” she says. “But they were already dead when he arrived. Ren’s work, of course.”

Everyone tenses at these words. Poe looks up from the card game, face pale and worried.

“Finn, are you okay? Did you see him, did he hurt you?”

“No, Poe, I’m fine! He wasn’t there when I arrived. I just found the bodies.”

The heavy atmosphere in the room finally distracts BB-8 from her game, and she looks around with big fearful eyes.

“Is Finny hurt?” she asks with a small, quiet voice.

“No, he’s fine, everything’s fine,” everyone scrambles to say, trying to reassure the little girl. Finn closes his eyes and curses himself for making her worry. Poe hugs BB-8, kissing her forehead.

“There’s nothing to be worried about, BB,” he says. “Finn is okay, everyone’s okay. We all protect each other, remember? And bad guys can’t hurt people who stick together. Okay?”

“Okay, Daddy,” she nods very seriously.

“Now, why don’t you go play in your room? We’re gonna have a grown-up conversation and it’ll be _sooo_ boring for you,” Poe adds with a playful tone and exaggerated facial expressions, making the little girl laugh.

BB-8 gets up, gives everyone a hug, and starts walking toward the room she shares with her father.

“And don’t you try to eavesdrop! Rose will know if you’re there, invisible or not,” he calls after her.

She pouts, but still goes into her room and closes the door behind her.

“All good,” Rose declares after a couple of minutes, her head tilted like she does every time she’s reading someone’s thoughts. “She’s focused on her Lego game.”

Everyone’s attention goes back to Finn, who squirms under their disapproving stare.

“Why did you go there alone, Finn?” Poe asks in a tired voice. “And how did you even find those people?”

Rose opens her mouth to answer, but Paige stretches her leg to kick her.

“Let him speak!” she hisses. Rose huffs and glares at her sister, but stays silent.

“Okay. So,” Finn starts, pulling a battered chair towards him and sitting on it. “I wouldn’t have disappeared like that if things had happened differently. But earlier today, I painted the future.”

He pulls out two crumpled sheets of paper from his jeans’ pocket, unfolding them and putting them on the coffee table. They are watercolor paintings, clearly done in a rush but still beautiful. The first one depicts a tall building with a neon sign standing out against the dark sky, the window on the 16th floor being the only one lit up. The second one is morbid, depicting two dead bodies in a bedroom, red painting smeared all over them. Poe and the Tico sisters lean over the paintings to have a better look.

“Out of the blue, I painted this,” Finn goes on. “And I felt, I _knew_ this was going to happen in a matter of minutes. I know I should have warned you, and I know we usually handle this kind of situation as a team, but I had no time! I had to get to their apartment before Kylo Ren.” He closes his eyes and slumps back in his chair, feeling despair curl up in his chest. “But I arrived too late. I found them just as dead as in this damn painting. I don’t--” Tears sting the back of his eyes, and he lets out a bitter laugh. “I don’t know why I keep trying to change the future when it seems to be set in stone.”

He feels a warm hand on his own, and suddenly the tight knot in his throat loosens, and a soothing feeling washes over him. It’s like someone lifted the heavy weights resting on his chest, and he feels relieved. He knows the sensation is artificial, though.

“Paige,” he sighs, his eyes fluttering open. “Please stop manipulating my emotions.”

“I’m taking away your pain,” she argues, her face twisted in worry. “I’m an empath, remember? I can feel everything you feel, and right now it’s really awful. I’m just offering you a break, okay?”

“And I appreciate that. It’s just that… it’s not _real_. It makes me hide from my feelings, and when you’ll stop touching me I’ll just feel worse.”

Paige sighs, but takes her hand away. And sure enough, despair, sadness and fear immediately crash over him like a suffocating wave. Paige winces, and he feels bad for putting her through this. It’s not her fault if he’s such a mess. He’s about to open his mouth to say so, but Poe cuts him.

“I swear to god, Finn, tell me you’re not about to apologize for your feelings.”

His silence says enough, and Poe throws his hands in the air with an exasperated huff. He doesn’t need to have telepathic abilities to know how Finn’s mind works, he’s known him for years.

“Finn, buddy.” He gets up from his place on the floor and sits on the coffee table, looking the younger man in the eyes. “You’ve got to stop beating yourself up for every bad thing that is happening. And you’ve got to stop shouldering all that burden by yourself. We’re a team, remember? A family.” Poe gently grabs his hands, earnest and affectionate.

Finn looks around the small room, taking in Paige’s concerned eyes, Rose’s kind smile and Poe’s open and worried expression. If he focuses, he can faintly hear BB-8 babble to herself as she plays with her action figures. It’s his family, and they are all here with him. He feels himself choke up with emotion, and squeezes Poe’s hands.

“I know,” he manages to say, voice strangled. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m still not used to people caring about me, let alone sticking around when everything goes to shit.”

“Hey, you’re not a lone wolf anymore,” Poe says. “Like it or not, you have us.”

“And we’re sorry if we got a little… aggressive when you came home,” Paige adds. “We had started to think that you were in danger, and I don’t think that anyone here could bear it if something happened to you.”

He nods, knowing that if he tries to speak he’ll just start crying. Poe is already wiping his tears with his sleeve, his other hand still holding Finn’s. Rose gets up from her chair and hugs Finn from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder.

“Still, you better warn us next time you have to rush out, especially if it’s to run toward danger,” she sighs. “It’s not safe out there for people like us.”

“I promise I will.”

 

The sound of small feet pounding the floor in their direction catches their attention, but there’s no one to be seen other than the four of them. He notices that BB-8’s door is half-open and shakes his head, smiling. She doesn’t fully control her power just yet and sometimes becomes invisible without realizing it, much to Poe’s distress. He lives in the constant fear that his daughter will get kidnapped and experimented on by the Company, and he freaks out every time she disappears.

“BB, we can’t see you,” Finn calls out.

“Ah! Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” a tiny voice pipes out of nowhere.

A few seconds later, the air in front of them shimmers and distorts itself, colors and shapes bubbling up until the little girl finally appears. It’s a sight Finn still isn’t used to, despite having himself gained the capacity of turning invisible at will ever since he met BB-8, thanks to his copycat ability. The little girl studies the four of them with concerned brown eyes, taking in their exhausted expressions and watery eyes.

“What’s happening?”

“Nothing, we were just talking,” Poe says.

She doesn’t seem convinced, but she nods and climbs on her father’s lap anyway, frizzy red hair bouncing on her shoulders. She sits back against Poe’s chest and takes one of his hands in her own, frowning. Then she asks very quietly :

“Did the bad guys find us?”

Finn can feel his heart breaking, and judging by the look on the others’ faces, he’s not the only one. Poe’s face is a heart-wrenching mixture of guilt, sadness and anger. Despite their best efforts, BB-8 overhears much more of their depressing conversations than she lets on. Finn feels guilty – they all do – because she’s only 7 years old and should be carefree, not scared. She already went through so much, with her parents getting murdered by Ren before Poe adopted her. They wish they could give her a safe, peaceful childhood, but between power-hungry serial killers and evil organizations trying to experiment on them, people with “special abilities” like them just can’t catch a break.

“No, sweetie,” Poe sighs, rubbing her arms. He makes her turn around a little so he can look into her eyes. “Don’t worry, alright? We’re safe and the bad guys have no idea where we are.”

“Then why is everyone sad?”

“We’re not sad,” he says, offering her a warm smile. “We’re just happy to be all together.”

“Like when people in the movies cry because they’re so happy?”

“Exactly.”

BB still looks a little dubious, but doesn’t object. She stares at them for a minute then suddenly smiles, all dimples and freckles on light brown skin.

“Can I have a group hug?”

Finn, Rose and Paige briefly look at each other, and before Poe has the time to notice the sparkle of mischief in their eyes, they jump on him and BB-8 with their arms spread open, careful not to crush the little girl between them. She squeals in delight and they all start laughing, until the coffee table they’re piling on starts creaking under their weight.

“Uh-oh.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The music is loud in her ears, the upbeat rhythm of the song allowing her to stay focused while she works on the blue Chevrolet 3100 that’s been assigned to her. It’s an easy repair and she works almost on autopilot, her hands having made the same gestures a thousand times before. A faint sound that doesn’t fit with the song she’s listening to catches her attention, and she uses her arms to propel herself from under the car. Jess is looking down at her, an eyebrow raised in mild annoyance. Rey sighs, and takes one of her earbuds out with dirty fingers.

“Rey, I’m sick of having to yell every time I want to talk to you,” Jess huffs. “And you’re going to end up with fucked up eardrums.”

“I know, sorry.”

She does feel a little guilty for making Jess shout herself hoarse to get her attention, but they both know she’ll be doing it again the next day. She loves her job but sometimes she just needs to be alone in her bubble, away from loud noises and persistent small talk. She doesn’t like talking to people outside of Jessika, the only person she trusts.

“You needed something?”

“Not really,” Jess says. “The boss left so it’s just you and me in the shop, now.”

Rey looks out the window, surprised that night has already fallen. She often loses track of time when she’s engrossed in her work.

“Okay, thanks for letting me know. I’m gonna stay until midnight, what about you?”

“Same.”

Jess resumes working on a client’s bike and they fall into a comfortable silence. Rey likes being alone in the repair shop with her friend, it’s one of the rare moments she feels free to be herself. The shop’s security cameras are broken, so she enjoys these few hours to use skills she usually conceals. She lifts cars and heavy engines with her bare arms, relishing the way her muscles are finally used to their full capacity. Fixing bodyworks and pipes gets done a lot faster when you can manipulate metal with your mind, and every time she puts her hand on a car, she can _feel_ the metal humming and pulsating, waiting for her to play with it. In these moments, she’s more in tune with herself than ever. Jessika seems to enjoy these private evenings just as much, as she keeps phasing through walls to move from one room to another, arguing that it’s way faster than opening and shutting doors.

Minutes, then hours quickly tick by before Rey takes a break. She glances at the clock – it’s half past 11 pm. She wipes her hands on a greasy rag and stretches, trying to relieve her stiff back and arms. The loud rumbling of the garage door slowly rolling up startles her, and she calls Jessika.

“Hey, what’s up with the door?”

“Uh? What are you talking about?” she answers, half of her body coming out of the wall like a ghost. “You’re the one who can control metal.”

“I’m not doing anything to that door. I thought it was you who was opening it.”

“Well I’m clearly not.”

The two young women stare at each other, then at the door. It’s still rolling up, revealing black boots and the bottom of a long dark coat. Jess walks up to Rey, grabbing a wrench on her way.

“We’re closed!” Rey yells, hoping that it’s just an annoying client who decided to ignore the sign put on the door. Still, she doesn’t know how they could have activated the blind without the remote.

“Whoever you are, I’m warning you, we have guns!” she tries again. There are no firearms in the repair shop, but the stranger doesn’t know that.

The pair of boots stays put, though, and the stranger doesn’t answer. Rey glances at Jessika, heart thumping in her chest. She considers calling the police but quickly drops the idea, not wanting the authorities to stick their nose in her business and find out about her secret. If this person thinks they can rob them, they’re going to have a bad surprise.

The rumbling stops, the door being finally wide open. The stranger is tall and menacing, dressed in black with their face hid by a hood. They take a few steps forward.

“Stop right there or I’ll knock you out,” Jess shouts, holding up her wrench.

The stranger snorts, then flicks their wrist. Jessika flies through the room with a scream and crashes in a shelf with a sickening sound. Rey rushes toward her, fear icing her veins. But before she can reach her, she suddenly feels herself being propelled backwards. Her back brutally hits the wall, the impact driving the air out of her lungs and leaving her breathless. The stranger makes their way toward her, slow and calculated like a vulture circling their prey, and she can’t move a muscle. She’s pinned on the wall like an insect, unable to turn her head to check on Jess.

The attacker pulls their hood back, revealing themselves. It’s a man, pale as the devil with a long scar running across his face. He’d be of mundane appearance if it wasn’t for his spine-chilling expression – conceited yet utterly empty, not a hint of compassion, regret, or even hesitation flashing across his face. He tilts his head and studies her with cold, soulless eyes, as she strains against the invisible force preventing her to move. The more she tries to writhe, the more her muscles painfully tense, keeping her in place. She can’t even scream. The monster’s mouth twists itself in a snarl as he enjoys her struggle.

“Hello, Rey. I believe you have something that belongs to me, and so does your friend Jessika. Unfortunately for you, I will have to take it back.”

He raises a gloved hand, reaching for her head, and Rey tries to recoil. She’s frantically trying to think about a way out but her brain seems to have short-circuited, the terror coursing through her veins drowning everything but the desperate need to _run_.

“Your powers are mine now.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A list of everyone's superpowers/abilities for clarity :
> 
> Finn : Is a copycat, he can mimic other people's abilities. At first, he could only use said abilities when the mimicked person was around him, but now he can use them whenever he wants once he has copied them. However, he can only use one ability at a time.  
> Rey : Has superhuman strength and can manipulate metal.  
> Paige : Is an empath, she can feel other people's emotions and manipulate them through physical contact.  
> Rose : Can read minds.  
> Jessika : Can phase through any solid matter.  
> Poe : Can fly.  
> BB-8 : Can become invisible.  
> \--------------  
> A huge thanks to [wouriqueen](http://wouriqueen.tumblr.com//) and to pastandfuturequeen for beta-ing this work.  
> Find me on Tumblr [here](http://scottmccute.tumblr.com/) !  
> Comments are always welcome :D


	2. The Angel Falling from the Sky

 

It’s 11 pm when BB-8 finally falls asleep, cuddling her father while Finn reads her a story. Poe extracts himself from the little girl’s grip without waking her up and they leave the bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind them. They slump on the couch, tired but not ready to call it a night yet. Rose and Paige already went home, and the apartment is quiet.

“Want some tea?” Poe asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

“Yeah, that’d be ni—”

Finn suddenly freezes. His mouth becomes slack and his eyes have turned completely white as if they were covered by a filmy veil. He seems to be staring into space but Poe knows that he’s actually seeing things far beyond their current reality. Finn gets up and walks stiffly to the dining table where BB has left her pencils. He starts to sketch, furiously scratching pencil on paper, eyes still milky and unfocused. Poe stands back – he learned that it’s useless to try and disturb his friend while he’s transcribing the future, no matter how unnerving and erratic his behavior is.

Eventually, Finn stops drawing. His eyes return to their deep brown color as he snaps out of his trance, and he blinks, confused. He never remembers seeing the future, let alone painting or drawing it. As far as he’s concerned, a second ago he was on the couch talking to his friend, and now he’s hunched over the table, fingers stained with charcoal and sheets of paper scattered in front of him. He sighs, dreading to make sense of what he has sketched. He’s exhausted and wants to rest, not chase after ominous predictions of the future.

Poe joins him, and after exchanging a worried glance, they examine the sketches. On their own, the sheets of paper don’t make any sense. But put side by side like pieces of a puzzle, they form one big drawing, one that makes Finn’s blood run cold.

The depicted scene takes place at night, in the garage of a repair shop – Jakku Auto Repair, according to the big letters drawn on the back wall. A dark and ghastly silhouette is seen from behind, a hand stretching toward a terrified woman. She’s trapped against a wall, silent tears pooling in her eyes. In the lower corner, a seemingly lifeless silhouette slumps on the floor. The clock on the garage’s wall marks 11:34.

Finn glances down at his watch – it’s already 11:26. He pulls out his phone and quickly searches for the repair shop on Google Maps, hoping that it’s located in their neighborhood.

It’s not.

His heart sinks and he can feel his guts twist in a suffocating knot. There’s no way he’ll ever get there in time, even if he flies. A tiny, vicious part of him whispers that he should just ignore it and go to bed, that there’s nothing he can do. But Finn knows that there’s no way he could ever stand by and let someone die, if he has even the slightest chance of helping them.

His watch ticks 11:27. There’s no time to lose.

Finn turns toward Poe, who tiptoes out of his room with a sleeping BB-8 in his arms. His features are set in a determined expression, and his gait is stiffer than usual, reminiscent of his career in the military.

“I’ll take BB to the Tico’s and leave her with Paige. I’ll come back with Rose and we’ll meet you at the repair shop,” he says in his commander voice.

Finn nods, and they quickly step out of their apartment. Poe briefly squeezes his arm with a look that means “ _Don’t do anything stupid before I arrive_ ”, then quietly soars into the night sky. Finn takes off in the opposite direction, anxiously checking his watch. Usually, they avoid flying in town to not draw attention, but tonight they can’t afford discretion.

It’s already 11:28.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The monster puts a hand on her forehead, and a crippling pain immediately floods her skull. It feels like someone is drilling through her brain, poking and carving in search of something, leaving a wreck in their trail. The agony is so unbearable that a scream rips from of her throat. Rey doesn’t know if it’s the pain or her survival instinct finally kicking in, but she snaps out of her terror-induced stupor. In a moment of perfect clarity, she realizes that her superhuman strength is useless, no matter how hard she strains against the powerful force keeping her still. But it’s not her only ability.

Every last one of her nerves is on fire, but she can still feel the metal in the room humming to her. With every bit of focus she can gather from her frazzled brain, she lifts up Jessika’s discarded wrench and hurls it at her attacker with the sheer strength of her mind. He never sees it coming and the wrench strikes the back of his head with a satisfying, wet sound.

The man falls to the ground with a groan, and so does the invisible grip he had on her. The pain in her brain quickly subsides, leaving her dizzy and weak as she stumbles forward. She knows she should be running for her life – that’s the logical thing to do – but all she can think about is Jess, still lying motionless on the floor. _Please don’t be dead please don’t be dead oh god please don’t let her be dead_ , she thinks again and again in a fervent prayer, staggering toward her friend. She falls to her knees next to her and presses shaking fingers on her neck, letting out a relieved sob when she feels a weak but steady pulse under her fingertips.

“You’re okay,” she whispers to the unconscious woman. “You’re going to be okay.”

She hears a grunt behind her, and dread grips her heart in an iron fist. She turns around just in time to see her attacker get up, fresh blood matting his hair. His face shakes with rage and his eyes burn with pure hatred. Her own anger grows, an ugly beast unfurling in her chest and urging her to hurt him as he hurt her and Jessika.

“I was going to give you a quick death,” he spits, mouth curling into a sadistic smile. “But now… oh now, I’m going to make you suffer. _Both_ of you.”

With an enraged scream, Rey lifts every screwdriver and wrench, every crowbar and metallic tool in the garage, and propel it at the man. But he quickly raises a gloved hand, and the tools stop a few centimeters away from him, sharp edges pointed toward his face. She frowns and concentrates, trying to bend the metal to her will, but for the first time in her life it refuses to comply. She falters and he takes the upper hand, the tools spinning on themselves to threateningly point at her. She gets a hold of herself and pushes back with her mind, the tools once again turning against him. Rey knows she won’t last much longer, no matter how determined she is – she’s still reeling from the physical and mental assault, and her opponent is clearly more experienced than her.

The tools turn against her once more, and anguished tears roll on her cheeks. It’s only a matter of seconds before she yields – this is it, this is the end. This is how she dies, murdered by a stranger for reasons she doesn’t understand. This is how Jess dies, too, and that thought is unbearable. Rey hopes that while the monster is busy torturing her, Jessika will wake up and run away.

She staggers back, losing the last remnants of control she has, when something suddenly crashes into the garage and onto her attacker.

No, not something. _Someone_. A young man, to be exact.

He looks like an avenging angel, with his eyes filled with righteous fury and the way he fell from the sky. His dark brown skin reflects the light of the garage and he almost seems to glow. Released from any mental grip, the metallic tools drop and clatter on the floor with a deafening noise, but she barely registers it. The angel presses a knee into the monster’s chest, making him gag, then hits him in the face.

“Long no time no see, you fucking bastard.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Finn is flying toward the repair shop as fast as he can, zigzagging between skyscrapers. He glances at his watch and curses.

It’s 11:34 and he’s not there yet.

Heart pumping with urgency and adrenaline, he stretches his body to its limits, flying faster and higher than he ever had before. He won’t arrive too late, he won’t fail. Not _again_. Not when he still has the sickening smell of blood in his nose.

Finally, a couple of minutes later, he can see the repair shop from above. He stops breathing, heart stuck in his throat, and prays to anyone who can hear that there are no dead bodies inside. The garage door is open and he dives to take a look.

The scene is slightly different from his drawing, probably because he didn’t arrive on time. There’s still someone laying on the ground – hopefully not dead yet – but the terrified young woman from his vision isn’t plastered to a wall anymore. She’s facing Kylo Ren in what seems to be a telekinetic standoff, a multitude of tools floating around them. The sharp objects spin on themselves several times – toward her, then him, then her again – and it becomes clear that she’s losing the battle. But she’s not going to die. Not today, not on his watch.

Fueled by rage, he dives into the garage, tackling Ren to the dirty floor. The killer didn’t see him coming and is slow to react, and Finn takes advantage of it, punching him in the face.

“Long no time no see, you fucking bastard,” he spits, repressed anger now flowing out of him at the sight of the murderer.

Surprise and rage flicker on the face of Kylo Ren but he quickly regains his composure, his lips stretching into a cold smirk.

“Indeed, it’s been a while since our last encounter. Tell me, how’s your back?”

Finn’s eye twitches, feeling now more than ever the itch of the long scar running across his back, forced to remember in a flash all the painful weeks he spent recovering from the injury. He doesn’t let it show, though.

“Just fine. I’d ask you how is your face, but I have the answer right in front of me,” he replies coolly. “Tell me, Ren, do you think about me every time you see your reflection?”

The murderer finally loses his calm, fury twisting his face into an ugly snarl. He screams and Finn is thrown back like a rag doll. The young man falls on the tools scattered all over the floor, the pointed edges painfully digging into his flesh. The monster is already up and standing. He knocks a shelving unit down on him with a flick of the arm. Finn instinctively raises a hand to protect himself, and the shelving stops mid-fall, its shadow looming over his body. He blinks, surprised for a second, before realizing that he must have mimicked Ren’s telekinetic abilities. The monster doesn’t give him time to breathe, though – a second shelving unit suddenly flies from the other side of the room, charging at him at an impossible speed. Finn stops breathing – he knows there’s no way he can stop or avoid this one, not when all of his energy is focused on preventing the first shelf to crush him. He’s done.

The shelving unit suddenly stops a meter away from him, and Finn lets out a breath, stunned. The girl he saved just stopped it with her bare hands, muscles straining against the tall and heavy piece of furniture. The wood creaks under her hands and she slides a few centimeters back, fighting Ren’s telekinetic power with her superhuman strength. She grunts, biceps twitching with effort, and the shelving unit squeaks and grates until it snaps in two, the upper half dropping on the floor with a deafening _thud_.

He stares at her, amazed, and she turns back to look at him, her hazel eyes boring into his. A millisecond that seems to last much longer pass, and they understand each other without words: they will have to fight Ren together.

Finn focuses on the shelving still looming over him, and pushes it back with his mind. He doesn’t master this new ability yet, so the piece of furniture heavily falls on its side instead of coming back to its initial standing position, but at least it didn’t fall on him.

He gets up, standing next to the young woman, and together they face their assailant.

“I will kill you!” Kylo Ren yells, shaking with unbridled rage at their defiance.

The monster starts to lift a hand but the mechanic cuts him short by hurling a big metallic box at him. He deflects it, but Finn uses that distraction to throw him against a wall with his telekinetic ability. The murderer’s back hits the wall so hard that it shakes, and Finn smiles. He can feel the newfound power coursing raw and unbridled through his veins, and if he doesn’t fully control it yet, he can at least use it in a fight. He briefly wonders why Kylo Ren hasn’t used his other abilities yet, then realizes it’s because he doesn’t want him to mimic those as well. The fact that his mere presence limits the murderer gives Finn great satisfaction, and his smirk widens.

Ren gets on his knees, mouth twisted in a pained snarl, but the young woman has other plans for him. She effortlessly picks up the huge bike standing behind her, lifts it above her head, and throws it at him. His eyes widen and he rolls over, barely avoiding the bike that crashes right where he was half a second ago.

He isn’t even done rolling that Finn jumps on him, grabbing him by the collar and hitting him again and again and again. Kylo strikes back, and no superhuman abilities are involved anymore. It’s a purely physical fight, brutal and dirty, each punch and kick filled with rage and resentment. They’re brawling on the oil-stained floor like animals. Fury has narrowed Finn’s senses to the extreme and he barely feels the pain his body is enduring. All he can see and hear is his enemy, and all he wants is to hit him until he stops moving. Until he can’t hurt anyone else.

The sound of something ripping reaches the young man’s ears, but he doesn’t register it. Ren, on the other hand, suddenly stills, eyes widening with shock. His pale face whitens even more, and he stares at Finn’s chest as if he’s just seen a ghost. Finn looks down, confused at the killer’s sudden change of attitude. The collar of his sweatshirt ripped open in the fight, and he realizes that Ren is staring at the birthmark on his exposed left collarbone. The mark is beige, in stark contrast with his dark complexion, and in the shape of a five-pointed star. Finn knows his birthmark is unusual, but still, it shouldn’t make a power-hungry serial killer look so afraid. The young man’s eyes narrow, wondering if this is a ploy to distract him. But his enemy seems so genuinely upset and confused, that for the first time he looks human instead of monstrous.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Finn asks angrily. He’s on top of Ren, his fist raised, but he doesn’t have it in him to keep hitting an enemy who doesn’t fight back, even someone as cruel as Kylo Ren.

“You… No, it can’t—It can’t be…” the monster stutters, his eyes flickering between the birthmark and Finn’s face.

He suddenly moves an arm and the young man flinches, ready to dodge an attack, but Ren is not trying to strike him. He’s frantically pulling at the collar of his own clothes, until he’s revealed his own left collarbone… which displays the same birthmark as Finn. Sure, Ren’s mark is brown on pale skin instead of being pale on brown skin, but it’s the exact same shape at the exact same place.

There’s a stunned silence, then Kylo Ren whispers:

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

He stares at the young man with what can only be described as an expression of pure terror, confusing Finn even more.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Finn turns around to see the young woman hovering a few steps behind them, holding a car engine above her head and clearly wondering if she should intervene or not. He lowers his fist and gets back on his feet, leaving a still shocked Kylo Ren on the floor.

“I honestly have no idea.”

Finn turns back toward the murderer with the intent of knocking him out, but the latter seems to snap out of his stunned trance and scrambles to his feet. He’s panting, face twisted in anger and fear, eyes wild like a cornered animal.

“You’re supposed to be dead,” he mutters again.

“Then either kill me or shut the fuck up,” Finn shoots back, out of patience. He tenses, ready for another round.

A swooshing sound draws their attention, and they all turn toward the garage’s entrance. Poe just landed with Rose in his arms. He puts her down and pulls out a gun, aiming at Kylo Ren.

“Finn, are you alright?” he asks, voice and face taut. His eyes don’t leave his target.

“I’m okay.” The young man shifts his attention back to Ren. “Surrender. It’s over for you.”

The monster’s mouth curls, and his eyes dart between them, unfocused. Suddenly, Rose gasps:

“Watch out! He—”

 

Too late.

 

Ren drops to his knees and presses his palms on the floor. The ground, then the whole garage starts violently shaking, making Finn and the others collapse. The shockwaves are so violent that Finn can’t hear anything above the sound of things crashing and his teeth chattering. He tries to stand up but can’t even get on his knees, the ground shaking too much for him to retain balance. Everything in his field of vision vibrates, and he can’t see anything. It’s as if the garage was about to fall apart. He bites back a pained scream, feeling like his bones are trying to vibrate out of his body.

Suddenly, everything stills.

Finn lets out a gasp, his body and brain trying to process the brutal transition. He looks around him, blinking. The room is devastated, with tools, mechanical parts and toppled furniture littering the floor. Rose, Poe, and the young woman are groaning in pain but slowly getting up, and he lets out a relieved sigh. However, he quickly sobers up when he realizes that Kylo Ren is nowhere to be seen. He stands up and runs outside, but the street is empty.

He got away. _Again_.

“Jessika!”

The spine-chilling scream makes Finn turn around. The young woman is running toward a corner of the garage, fear etched on her features. _There was someone else_ , he suddenly remembers. He runs up to the mechanic and helps her get her friend out of the debris caused by the earthquake. Thankfully, nothing heavy seems to have fallen on her.

“She’s still breathing,” the young woman manages to say in a strangled voice, cradling her friend’s head in her lap.

“She’s bruised and might have some broken bones, but I don’t see any blood,” Finn says as he looks over the Asian woman, trying to muster medical knowledge from his memories. “Her breathing isn’t laborious, so her lungs must not have been damaged. I don’t think she’s going to die, but she might have internal injuries. We should get her to a hospital—“

“No.” The woman cuts him, voice strained but eyes blazing. “Don’t call an ambulance or the police.”

“…She has powers too?”

The woman looks down at her friend and stiffly nods.

“Jess’s power affects her body on a molecular level. If she goes to the hospital, they’ll run checks on her and they’ll find out about it. I can’t risk that. She wouldn’t want me to.”

The young woman looks devastated, and Finn understands. She wants to help her friend, but no matter what she chooses – hospital or no hospital – she risks Jess’s life.

“Listen,” he says earnestly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She startles at the physical contact and eyes him warily but doesn’t shake his hand off. “I know what you’re going through. I’ve been in this situation several times before, be it the one bleeding on the floor or the one having to make the tough decision. My friends and I can help you.”

The young woman glances at Rose and Poe, who hover at a respectful distance.

“Poe here used to be a fighter pilot. A friend of his is a former field medic, who now works in a private clinic. When we need to get stitched up, we go there. She knows about us and has our full trust. She saved our lives several times, and she can help Jess too.”

“I don’t even know who you guys are, or what the fuck just happened tonight,” she says, angry and distressed. “How am I supposed to trust you?”

“I saved your life, and you saved mine,” Finn answers calmly, looking in her eyes. “I think that says enough about what kind of person we both are.”

The mechanic looks at her friend, then at him again, and seems to make her choice – though with reluctance.

“Alright. I’ll entrust the person I care about most in this world to your friend’s friend.”

Finn smiles with relief.

“You won’t regret it,” he reassures the young woman, “She’ll be okay.”

As he says those words, Jess’s eyes flutter, and her hand twitches. The mechanic gasps.

“Jess? Jessika?”

The woman’s face twists in pain as she regains consciousness, and her eyes blink open.

“Rey…” she mutters, voice hoarse and barely audible.

The mechanic bursts into relieved tears.

“Oh my god, Jess, are you okay?”

“Yeah… Why are you crying? Are you hurt?”

“No, you idiot,” Rey smiles through her tears. “I thought you were dying.”

“I don’t think I am, but I do feel like I’ve been trampled by a freaking mammoth,” the woman groans, before looking like she’s remembering something. “Wait. The dude that broke into the garage, he—“

“It’s okay,” Rey cuts her gently. “He’s gone. These guys came in and helped me beat his ass. They are… special, like us. They know someone who can examine you and keep quiet about it.”

Jessika glances at Finn, then at the others with bleary eyes.

“Well… if you trust them, then I do too.”

She winces, trying to lift herself into a seated position, and Rey and Finn help her out. Poe, who went outside to make a call, walks up to them.

“I just talked to Karé. She’ll be here in 15 minutes with her car to take us to the clinic.”

With Rey’s help, Jessika manages to get up and limp to the garage’s entrance. She can’t stand upright on her own but refuses to sit down (“I’ve spent way too much time on the floor tonight,” she mumbles). Rose is still in the garage, concerned and lost in her thoughts, and Finn makes a mental note to check on her later. Rey leaves her friend leaning against the wall of the building next to Poe, and motions to Finn that she wants to talk to him in private. They move a few meters away from the others.

“So,” the young woman starts, crossing her arms, “I have a lot of questions, and you seem to have answers.”

“Go ahead.”

“First of all, can you tell me who was that man and why he tried to kill us? I’ve never even met him before.”

“He calls himself Kylo Ren.” Finn sighs, thinking about how he failed to neutralize the murderer. “We don’t know who he is or where he came from, but he’s a serial killer targeting people with powers. When he kills someone, he can absorb their abilities, and he’s obsessed with collecting the most he can. From what I gathered, his goal is to be the sole and most powerful superhuman on earth. ”

“Wow.” Rey takes a deep breath, visibly shaken. Finn can see that she’s trying to maintain a strong façade, but her trembling hands betray her. “That’s fucked up. How many people did he kill?”

“At least a dozen.”

The mechanic blinks quickly, face pale.

“Wow,” she repeats. “But— how did you know he was coming here?”

“I can see the future.” As Rey’s eyebrows shoot up, he chuckles and adds “Not like you imagine. It’s like, random visions that I can’t control, and then I have to try and make sense of it. Earlier tonight I had a vision of him coming to this garage and attacking you, so my friends and I arrived as fast as we could.”

“So that you could kill him?”

“No, so that we could save you.”

The young woman stares at him with a strange expression – surprised, wary and touched at the same time.

“So you just go around saving people? You’re some sort of vigilante?”

“I wouldn’t call ourselves vigilantes,” he shrugs, putting his hands in his pockets. “We know what it’s like to live in fear and secrecy, to be hunted down like animals, and we’re just trying to help those we can. It’s just… doing the right thing.”

She’s still staring at him, but this time her eyes are soft.

“It’s way more than just doing the right thing,” she says in a low and gentle voice, so unlike the brash attitude she has displayed until now. Finn suddenly feels warm all over, and he clears his throat.

“I haven’t had the chance to say it to you earlier,” Rey goes on, “but thank you. Really. For saving our lives.”

Finn doesn’t know what to say to that, especially that her eyes are so raw and sincere, so he just nods.

“Your name is Rey, right?” he asks.

“Yeah. And you’re…?”

“Finn.” He smiles and she smiles back, small but genuine.

“Nice to meet you, Finn.”

They shake hands, and despite their palms being clammy – hers because of sweat and oil, his because of blood –, he finds that he doesn’t want to let go.

 

“Finn.”

He startles and drops Rey’s hand, turning around to see Rose. He hadn’t heard her approach.

“Yeah?”

“I need to talk to you.”

She motions for him and Rey to follow her, and they all walk up to Poe and Jess. Then she just stands there, wringing her hands, a distressed expression hardening her smooth features. Finn has rarely seen her so disturbed.

“What’s wrong, Rose?” Poe asks, gentle as always.

“Kylo Ren… I heard what he was thinking just before he ran away.” She looks at Finn. “He was confused, and terrified.”

“What could he be afraid of?” Poe scoffs, anger laced in his tone. “The man is a walking killing machine.”

“He’s afraid of Finn.”

Everyone blinks, then stares at Finn, who shrugs with confusion.

“He hates my guts ever since I slashed his face after he failed to kill me, that’s for sure. But he’s not scared of me. Why would he be?”

Rose silently stares at him for a moment, somber, then says:

 

“Because he thinks you’re his cousin.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A list of everyone's superpowers/abilities for clarity :
> 
> Finn : Is a copycat, he can mimic other people's abilities. At first, he could only use said abilities when the mimicked person was around him, but now he can use them whenever he wants once he has copied them. However, he can only use one ability at a time.  
> Rey : Has superhuman strength and can manipulate metal.  
> Paige : Is an empath, she can feel other people's emotions and manipulate them through physical contact.  
> Rose : Can read minds.  
> Jessika : Can phase through any solid matter.  
> Poe : Can fly.  
> BB-8 : Can become invisible.  
> \--------------  
> I know it's been a while since i've updated, sorry about that!
> 
> A huge thanks to [Luna](http://tweakerpoe.tumblr.com//) for beta-ing this work! Your advice was really helpful.  
> Find me on Tumblr [here](http://jabariqueen.tumblr.com/).  
> Don't forget to comment or leave a kudo if you enjoy this story ;)


	3. Confessions

The atmosphere in the clinic is tense and heavy – or maybe it's just Finn. He keeps replaying Rose's words in his head, again and again and again.

 

_“He thinks you’re his cousin.”_

It doesn't make sense. Nothing about it makes sense.

He's an orphan, he's always been. His earliest memories are those of the orphanage he grew up in. Of cold, lonely nights spent sobbing in his bed, wishing someone – anyone – would care about him. Of Ms Phasma's pale hands dragging him out of bed and locking him in the utility closet because crying was “unnecessary, thus forbidden”.

The orphanage’s staff were cold at best, and abusive more often than not, and he never dared to ask if they knew who his parents were. Still, one night, he snuck into Ms Phasma's office looking for his file. The only thing he discovered was that the orphanage didn't keep any information on the children other than their age, physical description, and a file number. His was FN-2187.

Over the years, Finn eventually accepted the fact that he doesn't have a family. And that even if he has one, they don't want him – why else would they have abandoned him? He didn't know which scenario was the worst: the one where he doesn't have any living relatives, or the one where he is so repulsive that his family couldn't bear to keep him around. Not that it mattered much, at the time: in the end, he was all alone.

 

_“He thinks you’re his cousin.”_

 

And yet, Rose wouldn't lie. If she heard those thoughts, then Kylo Ren meant it. Believed it. And his strange behavior after he noticed his birthmark...

No. It can't possibly be it. There's surely a mistake. He can’t be related to a white serial killer.

_But what about the identical birthmarks?_ A nagging voice keeps repeating over his jumbled thoughts. _The identical birthmarks located at the exact same spot?_

It could be a mere coincidence. It has to be.

 

_“He thinks you’re his cousin.”_

The haunting words weren't the only things that Rose could pick up from Ren's brain. Thoughts are never monologuing voices only – they also are half-formed images and sounds, everything that goes through someone's head when they're thinking about something in particular. And what Rose saw was as disturbing as what she heard.

“ _It felt like a memory,”_ she said. “ _The scene was blurry at the edges and lasted only a second, but it kept repeating as if it was stuck on a loop. All I could see was a man's arms holding a baby. The baby was black with a birthmark exactly like yours. I think it was you.”_

The possibility of him being actually related to Kylo Ren slips into his head, cold and slimy and making his blood curdle. He doesn't realize he's digging shaky fingers into his thighs until Poe, who is sitting on the plastic chair next to his, puts a warm hand on his shoulder.

“Don't get too much in your head,” he whispers with a reassuring smile. “We're going to look into this, and no matter what the truth is, we'll be by your side, ok?”

Finn nods wordlessly, throat closed too tightly to speak. He has a tendency to obsess over everything until he spirals, but Poe is always there to remind him that he doesn't have to face hardships on his own anymore. He doesn't know what he would do without him.

 

Finn exhales and turns his head around, trying to focus on something other than his possible connection to a mass murderer.

They're sitting in the clinic's waiting room, and through a half-open door he can see Jessika stretched on an examination table while Karé methodically examines her. Standing next to her friend, Rey radiates tension and wariness, eyeing every one of Karé's movements. She looks like a trapped animal, body taut and ready to jump at the slightest hint of a menace. Finn gets it: Rey and Jessika just survived a murder attempt, and now they're in an unknown location with four strangers. For someone who relies on wariness to survive, it must be nerve-wracking.

Sitting on his other side, Rose has her eyes screwed shut and her fingers pressed on her temples. The night has been chaotic, leaving her riddled with a migraine, and now she's doing her best to mute everyone's thoughts. Even though she controls her ability way better than she used to, she still can't easily shut the foreign thoughts out. It's an issue Finn knows too well, which is why he rarely uses the telepathic ability he copied from her – knowing what someone thinks is rarely worth the waves of voices and images crashing in his brains, confusing his senses and making it hard to know what are his thoughts and what aren't.

Deciding it's best not to distract Rose from her efforts, Finn turns to Poe:

“How are BB and Paige?”

“They're good. BB is still sleeping, and Paige is keeping watch. She says that she can't sleep as long as we're not all home and safe.”

Finn nods, knowing well that Poe is secretly relieved that Paige decided to stay alert. He's always worried about his daughter, and a furious Kylo Ren at large in the city is an additional strain on his nerves.

“Sounds like Paige. I bet she's worried sick about Rose.”

“That's an understatement,” Poe snorts, although he's the kettle calling the pot black. “I told her she's fine, and they talked on the phone, but she still insisted that I send her a picture of Rose “just to be sure”,” he finishes with air quotes.

“Hm-m,” Finn nods with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “You make fun of her, but I'm pretty sure that if I go through your phone right now, I'll find that you asked Paige to send you pictures of BB just to check on her.”

Poe blushes and shoves him lightly.

“It's not the same thing. BB is 7 years old, Rose is a grown woman.”

“So when BB is an adult, you will stop checking on her every time you're worried?”

Poe grumbles an answer – a lie or a weak excuse, probably – and Finn chuckles before patting him on the shoulder. As much as they love making fun of each other, they all know why they're so hands-on with each other. Paige and Rose lost their parents at a young age, and Paige had to protect and take care of her little sister. Poe is traumatized by his short time spent in custody of the Company, and he's terrified that they'll do to BB what they did to him. And Finn, well... he never had a family, and now that he has one, he's not sure he could survive it if something happened to them. One way or another, life has taken a lot from them, and they're trying to salvage what little they have left.

 

Karé sticks her head out of her office, drawing their attention. Her smile is warm but tired, and Finn feels bad for making her drive across town and stitch them up at such an ungodly hour.

“Your turn, Finn.”

He startles.

“My turn? Why?”

“Are you kidding me.” Karé's voice is flat and her eyes stern. “You have multiple cuts and your hands are a mess. _And_ I want to check if you have any broken bones.”

He looks down at his bloodied and swollen knuckles, then shrugs.

“It's nothing, really. We already pulled you out of bed in the middle of the night, you don't have to waste your time on a few scratches.”

Karé throws him the most offended look he's ever seen, and the next second she's towering above him, hands on her hips.

“You got into a fight in a repair shop, Finn. Do I need to remind you that wounds caused by metallic objects can lead to very serious infections? That a broken bone that isn't treated with the necessary care might heal up the wrong way, causing life-long pain and medical issues? And most importantly, do I need to physically drag you into that room?”

Finn grumbles but gets up anyway, following the doctor and ignoring Poe's satisfied smile. No wonder he and Karé have been friends for such a long time, they both love nagging.

When they enter the office, Rey and Jessika are standing in the back corner. Jessika is sporting a few bandages but seems okay, and her friend is helping her take the medicine the doctor supplied them.

As he sits on the examination table, Karé keeps scolding him.

“You need to take better care of yourself, Finn. You can't always prioritize others over your health. You just survived a fight with a serial killer – even if you didn't have a scratch, I would still need to check on you.”

He nods, unconvinced, but she goes on earnestly.

“I just want you to know that when you're hurt, you can call me anytime, any day. It will never bother me, okay?”

He wordlessly nods once again, but this time it's due to emotion choking him up. He always feels like a burden when he asks for help, so most of the time he swallows whatever pain he's feeling. Karé's words make him feel a strange mixture of gratitude and guilt.

“Take off your shirt, please.”

He does as instructed, removing his torn and bloody sweatshirt, then the t-shirt underneath. He hears a soft gasp and when he turns around, Rey diverts her gaze, blushing. She must have seen his scar – sometimes he forgets how impressive it is.

Karé presses on his ribcage and arms, looking for broken bones, but luckily doesn't find any. He does, however, have a few nasty bruises, and she prescribes him the appropriate medicine. She disinfects the few cuts on his arms, torso and face, and injects him a tetanus shot just to be safe. Then she takes care of his hands, cleaning the cuts and bandaging his knuckles.

“You're lucky you don't have any broken fingers,” Karé muses. “Don't forget to change your bandages once a day.”

“Sure thing, Doc. Thanks.”

“Don't worry about it.”

She gives him a last smile and gets out of the room to check on Poe and Rose. Finn puts his clothes back on, and is about to hop off the table when Rey comes standing in front of him. He notices that Jessika is no longer in the room.

“She's in the waiting room with the others,” Rey says, sensing his question. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Sure. About what?”

She wrings clenches her hands and lowers her head, and her sudden lack of assurance catches him off guard. The previously tense lines of her features have smoothed, hard jawline going lax and eyes softening, and Finn realizes he finds it very endearing.

“I'm... sorry.”

Her words confuse him, and he frowns.

“Sorry about what?”

“You're hurt,” she whispers, and he realizes she's staring at his hands, where red stains are blooming like bloody flowers through the gauze. Very carefully, she grabs one of his hands, her fingers impossibly light as though she was afraid of breaking him. Her feather-like touch makes something warm ignite in him.

She raises her free hand and lets it hover in front of his face, her fingers only a few millimeters away from his skin. She looks like she wants to touch, but doesn't dare. Still hovering, her fingers trace the injured parts of his face: the cut on his lip, the impressive bruise on his cheekbone, the few scratches here and there. She's close – _so close_ – to him, her hand still holding his radiating warmth, and he can make out all of the freckles adorning her nose and cheeks, feel her breath on his skin, count every one of her eyelashes. Her eyes are sad, but there's another emotion swirling in them as well – wonder, maybe.

Suddenly, Rey steps back, dropping his hand. Finn misses the touch, although he doesn't know why. He clears his throat, flustered, and remembers how to speak.

“It's-- it's nothing. I've been hurt worse while skateboarding,” he chuckles, trying to diffuse the tension. He fails, though, because Rey frowns.

“You're _hurt_ ,” she repeats, more assertive this time. “Because you were trying to protect us. If I had been stronger... you wouldn't have needed to intervene.” She lowers her gaze, ashamed.

Finn's heart sinks, and he gets off the table, stepping closer to her. He puts a hand on her arm and she startles, looking up at him, but doesn't pull away.

“You can't blame yourself, Rey.” He stares into her hazel eyes. “Nothing could have prepared you for what happened tonight. Besides, I would have never been able to beat him on my own. It was a team effort, remember? You saved me from being crushed to death.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she murmurs, not quite convinced.

“And anyway, if a few cuts is the price of saving your lives, I'll pay it any day, any time. Don't worry about it, ok?”

She stares at him with an unreadable expression.

“What about your scar? What was it the price of?”

Finn is taken aback, even though he should have expected the question. His lips stretch into a bitter smile.

“My first encounter with Kylo Ren. A year ago, he attacked me. He was especially interested in me because my ability is to copy others' powers just by being in their vicinity.” Rey's eyebrows shoot up, and he goes on. “Taking my power would allow him to collect abilities way faster and easier, and he would kill at a much higher pace. But at the time, I wasn't controlling my ability as well as I do now. It would take me days to be able to use a newly acquired ability, and only if the original “owner” was near me. So I lost the fight – but not before leaving a souvenir on his face.”

“You're the one who scarred him,” she guesses. Finn nods.

“He was too hurt to be able to steal my power, but I guess he didn't want my ability to die with me, because he didn't finish me off and left after striking me down.”

“Your scar... I've never seen anything like it. I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but... how did he do that to you?”

“One of the powers he gained is pyrokinesis. Not only can he generate fire, but he can shape it and direct it anyway he wants. It was... like a sword made of fire slashing through my back.”

He shudders, an imaginary pain flashing across his back. He can almost feel the flames cutting through his skin, smell the nauseating stench of his flesh burning and sizzling, see the snowflakes melting around him.

Rey grabs his hand and he snaps out of a flashback he didn't realize he was having, body shaking.

“I'm sorry,” she says, eyes worried and regretful. “I didn't mean to bring back awful memories.”

“It's fine,” he says after taking a deep breath. He squeezes her hand, the touch grounding him, and forces out a shaky smile. “Anyway, Poe is the one who found me and brought me to the hospital. The surgeons had to re-open the wound to be able to operate on my damaged spine, and I spent 72 hours on the operation table, then 2 weeks in a coma. When I woke up, they weren't sure I would be able to walk again.”

“But you did.”

“You bet I did.” He offers her a real smile this time, vindicated. It took him 6 months of physiotherapy, but he managed to regain full use of his lower limbs, each step a testament of his strength and determination. Kylo failed at breaking him.

“I'm really sorry you had to go through that. That man is a monster.”

Rey's voice is low and shaking, and he is startled at how affected she is: her eyes are wet and she's brimming with anger.

“He is. I'm sorry he targeted you and your friend as well.”

She nods stiffly and blinks, trying to will away unshed tears, and Finn's heart breaks at the sight. Tonight was clearly traumatic for her. He wants to offer comfort, but isn't sure how. She probably won't take well a stranger hugging her, so he just squeezes her hand once again.

She offers him a small smile.

“Jess isn't just my friend,” she says. “She's my family. We grew up in the same horrid orphanage, and we always looked after each other.”

This information about her life was shared like a small gift, so Finn returns her smile, pleased.

“Then I guess we're part of the same club. I'm an orphan as well.”

She lets out a surprised chuckle.

“Wow, both our lives really suck.”

Finn barks a laugh, the incongruity of their situation somehow hilarious at the moment.

“They really do.”

Her smile blooms into a wide grin, brightening her face, and Finn's heart skips a beat.

 

Karé knocks at the door, startling them.

“Time to close shop, guys.”

They hastily drop hands and exit her office, finding the others already standing near the exit. They all look tired, especially Jessika.

“So, what's next?”

Finn turns toward Rey with a raised eyebrow.

“Hm. Sleeping, probably?”

“I know,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But after that. What do we do about Kylo Ren? He might come back, don't you think? I don't plan on sitting around until he tries to kill us again.”

“She's not wrong,” Poe adds. “Not to mention that we need to figure out if you and him really are... connected.” The last word was said with a grimace mirroring the one on Finn's face.

“Okay,” Finn sighs. “And how do we do that?”

Poe's face turns into a somber mask.

“I know for a fact that the Company is actively looking for Kylo Ren. They might have a file on him.”

Finn immediately understands what he's implying, and his stomach drops low and cold.

“Poe, _no_.”

“We have to.” The older man stares at him, eyes hollow but determined. “It might be our only shot at actually stopping him.”

“Wait, what are you suggesting?” Rey asks.

“We have to get into the Company's headquarters and gather every information we can find about Kylo Ren.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Rey's heart nearly stops at the words.

“The _Company_? Are you out of your mind?” She exchanges an alarmed glance with Jessika, who no longer seems drowsy. “May I remind you that these people hunt our kind?”

“I am well aware of how bad the Company is,” Poe snaps.

“If you were, you wouldn't be suggesting such a stupid idea.”

The older man clenches his jaw, trembling with anger, his previously mild behavior gone. Rey tightens her closed fists – she's been having a spectacularly bad night, and she's not above another fight. Finn steps between the two of them.

“Okay, that's enough.”

He's radiating cautious calm, arms slightly outstretched and palms open in a non-threatening gesture.

“Rey, come outside with me. We need to talk.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but Finn's inflexible stare subdues her and she follows him outside. Weirdly enough, she feels like a child scolded for something that she didn't do. She hates the feeling – somehow, despite the fact that she met him only hours ago, she doesn't want to disappoint Finn.

Still, she can't believe his friend. Rey and Jessika have been running from the Company for _years_ , and the simple mention of their name sends her on the verge of an anxiety attack. There's a reason why they're going from city to city, working shitty job after shitty job instead of aspiring for more. No one taken by the Company was ever seen again. In her book, they are worse than Kylo Ren.

The crisp air feels welcoming when they get to the sidewalk, and Finn sighs, a puff of white steam escaping his mouth. Rey is struck once again by his effortless beauty: the streetlights seem to strike his features at all the right angles, highlighting his plush lips and kind eyes. Not even the bruise and cuts on his face can make him look unattractive. She is suddenly reminded of him half-naked in Dr Kun's office, his broad shoulders and the striking scar cutting across the muscles of his back, and she blushes.

“So, about Poe...”

Finn's words bring her back to reality and she tenses, anger flooding back.

“Yeah, about him. What _is_ his deal? He literally wants us to deliver ourselves to the fucking Company, out of all things. Doesn't he realize what they do?”

“He does, more so than most people, actually.” The sadness in his eyes quells her anger somewhat.

“What do you mean?”

“Three years ago, he was kidnapped by the Company.”

She is taken aback.

“He-- He made it out?” How he managed such a feat is beyond her.

“Barely. They tortured him so that he would give out names, and they even... experimented on him.”

Talking about it is clearly painful for him, and his features are animated with the same rage as when he was facing Ren.

“He's still traumatized. Wakes up screaming at night, sometimes. He fears the Company more than any of us, Rey. Going back there is not something he would consider carelessly. If he's talking about it, it means he's thought about it a lot – and thinks it's our only real shot.”

Rey takes a deep breath in, then exhales. Conflicting emotions are churning in her stomach. She feels for Poe, she really does, but the Company still terrifies her beyond words.

“Okay. I see. But-- I still think it's a terrible idea. There's no way we can get in and out without being noticed. If they catch us...”

She trails off, leaving the horrifying unsaid hanging between them.

“I don't like the idea either,” Finn says. “I hate it, actually. I don't want Poe or anyone else near that horrible place. But I keep thinking-- how much longer are we going to live in fear? Hiding and jumping at every noise? I don't want it to be my whole life. Poe has a daughter, and she's been through so much already... I don't want it to be her whole life either. If there's a way to stop all of this madness... maybe it's worth the risks.”

His voice is thick with emotion, and his eyes bright with unshed tears. His words resonate with her on the deepest level: she's exhausted from running and hiding, from worrying about might happen to Jess, from not being able to trust people. She just wants to stop looking over her shoulder. But at the same time, she keeps remembering _that_ night – the footsteps of the Company's hunters echoing after her, her lungs burning from exhaustion, the screams...

“I still don't see how we would ever get in their headquarters,” she manages to say, trying to focus on logic rather than on painful memories. “Poe knows where it's located because he escaped from it, but that's literally all the information we have. We can't go in there blind.”

There's a beat.

“We won't, because I know that place pretty well.” Finn's voice is low, his body taut as if he was bracing himself for a hit. “I used to work there.”

Rey takes a step back, shock and a stinging feeling of betrayal piercing through her.

“No, not like that!” He scrambles to say, pleading. “I didn't know who they were, or what they were doing. Just... hear me out, okay?”

She doesn't move, astonishment and hurt keeping her feet rooted to the ground, and he goes on.

“When I turned eighteen, the orphanage I grew up in kicked me out. I started doing odd jobs, but it was barely enough to survive. 3 years ago, I got hired as a janitor for a pharmaceutical company, and the pay was well above what I was earning before. My dream was to go to college, so I started saving up most of my salary for that. At the time, I didn't even know I had abilities, I didn't know anyone had any.

“It looked like a regular pharmaceutical company, but I eventually realized that there was more going on. I was working nights, when most employees were gone, and I didn't have access to all the rooms; but sometimes I saw weird people in the building. They didn't look like businessmen or scientists, they looked dangerous. I started thinking that, maybe, the company was a front for some sort of criminal activity. But I couldn't suspect the scale of what was really going on.

“Then one night, after my shift, I came back to the building after realizing I had forgotten my phone there. That's when I saw them torturing Poe. He was shackled to some kind of surgery table.” He shakes his head, face twisted in horror at the memory. “When they left the room, I snuck in and freed him. But we immediately got spotted and had to flee all the way up to the roof. We were trapped. Poe grabbed me and jumped, trying to fly, but he was too hurt and after a couple of seconds we started falling. That's when my ability kicked in for the first time, and I managed to fly us someplace safe. Then Poe told me everything: the abilities, the Company hunting us, Kylo Ren. But the Company were on the lookout for us, and they had realized I had powers, so we had to go into hiding. We moved towns and I've been living with him and his daughter ever since.”

He falls quiet and stares at her, waiting for a response. But all of that is too much for her, too much conflicting information and emotions to process. Is he telling the truth, is he lying? He saved her life, but who knows if he's not secretly working for the Company? Trying to gain her trust just to backstab her later? It has happened before. She wants to believe him, but can she afford to?

Finn sighs and puts his hands in his jeans' pockets.

“Listen, I know it's a lot. And I know you might not believe me when I say that I'm not affiliated with the Company, and that I would never hurt you or Jessika. But know that if we decide to investigate the Company's headquarters, you don't have to come. I wouldn't expect you to, and the last thing I want is for more people to get hurt. Just...,” he fumbles in his pockets, pulls out a pen and a scrunched up piece of paper, and writes something on it before holding it out to her. “This is our address. Come by tomorrow if you decide to trust us. Or don't, if you don't want to see us ever again. Your choice.”

Rey doesn't make any movement to take it, and his face crumples. Still, he puts it down at her feet, then goes back into the clinic after throwing her one last sad glance.

After a few seconds of standing alone in the cold, she bends down and picks the piece of paper up. She doesn't know what to do, and tears of frustration well up in her eyes. A couple of minutes later, Jessika joins her. They embrace in a quiet hug.

“It's going to be okay,” Jess whispers in her ear.

Rey lets out a bitter chuckle. They both know she's lying.

“Come on, let's go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A list of everyone's superpowers/abilities for clarity :
> 
> Finn : Is a copycat, he can mimic other people's abilities. At first, he could only use said abilities when the mimicked person was around him, but now he can use them whenever he wants once he has copied them. However, he can only use one ability at a time.  
> Rey : Has superhuman strength and can manipulate metal.  
> Paige : Is an empath, she can feel other people's emotions and manipulate them through physical contact.  
> Rose : Can read minds.  
> Jessika : Can phase through any solid matter.  
> Poe : Can fly.  
> BB-8 : Can become invisible.  
> \--------------  
> I know I'm updating very slowly, sorry about that! I also edited a couple of minor things in the previous chapter because I realized I made a continuity mistake. If you spot inconsistencies in the timeline of the story please tell me! Cause right now i'm too tired to check yet another time lol  
> Find me on Tumblr [here](http://jabariqueen.tumblr.com/)  
> Thank you to rose-griffes for beta-ing this!


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